In The Name of Black
by heartsn'minds
Summary: On that fateful night of James and Lily Potter's death, young Harry James Potter is rescued and adopted by one Sirius Orion Black. Furious at Dumbledore for the Potter's death and his ignorance at Peter's doing, Sirius rejoins the Black family in support of the Dark Lord, bringing with him his son, young Cepheus Sirius Black, Heir of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black.
1. Chapter 1

On all Hallows Eve when the autumn chill broke through the night, when the leaves scattered across empty asphalt and when the mist decorated the ink painted pavement and distant horizon, a young baby of a year or so was left in a wicker basket upon a tidy house's doorstep. A tuft of soft black hair rested upon his head, his cheeks ruddy and smooth, chubby from nourishment; his firm, fat hands were small and gripped the red cashmere of his blanket tightly, as if afraid some devastating force would try to rip it away from his presence. Atop lay a single cream colored envelope, magically spelled to withstand the breezes of the night; the name of Dursley had been elegantly penned unto the paper and had anyone else been witness to the odd scene, they would have found it strangely endearing. A little Moses, perhaps, awaiting for some strange, English princess to take him in; but alas, that was not to be. For any and everyone who knew the Dursley family also knew that they were perfect, normal, English residents with perfect, normal, English mindsets.

A boy wizard living under their roof simply wouldn't do, no, no!

And, perhaps it was because of that knowledge that Fate decided, in her gleaming chair of star and silver, to alter destiny - because who was she, to cruelly deny a child of a family and then later toss him aside like an old, used sock? Fate was a just woman, cold and mercilessly cruel when needed, but fair when called upon. And so Sirius Black had, for all intents and purposes, just after the deaths of the Potter's, decided to renounce his affiliation with the Light and rejoin the Black family.

For, he reasoned to himself, if Dumbledore were to allow people as kind and good as the Potter's die for the 'greater good', then surely the Dark wasn't as bad as a life sacrificing and senile old headmaster?

The handsome, debonair young man had apparated upon 4 Privet Drive with ease this night after confessing his sins to his family, and being warmly welcomed back by his Grandfather Pollux (who really always did have a soft spot for his rambunctious young great grandson). He glanced around to make sure no muggle had seen him appear by and with the deftness of a feather floating to the sea, he picked up the wicker basket with ease, gently peering down into the face of his godson.

"I'll make sure you're loved Harry," he murmured hoarsely as he began to walk back into the night, "I owe that much to James and Lily…I'm not sure how well I'm going to do as a father but," he gave a chuckle, "I know that I'll do my damnedest to bring you up right. With a family. And I swear to you, Harry, I swear - I will hunt down that rat Pettigrew and murder him in cold blood - even if it's the last thing I do."

Sirius's strong words seemed to have awoken Harry, who stared curiously at the handsome man before him. A wide, toothy grin suddenly appeared on his face when he recognized the sharp, handsome features as a cooing sound escaped his lips. Closing his eyes contently again, the babe lapsed into sleep as Sirius gently tapped the child's soft cheek before apparating away; no sign of any magical enchantment ever being there. None at all, no trace - everything blown away in the cool October night.

* * *

The Heir of Black appeared inside Black Alcazar, the residency of his Grandfather Pollux and Grandmother Irma in the slightly desolate old-money neighborhood of England's finest. The lavish home had been decorated to represent the Black's to a tee - everything was of white marble and silver, tinted with gleams of opulent violet and dangling, crystal chandeliers along with diamond dew drops.

Sirius walked into the drawing room, the wicker basket he had carried had been sent to 114 Hawthorne-Coleridge Key - Sirius's manor, reserved specifically for the Heir of Black - and in the care of three of Sirius's house elves, Mimi, Epsy, and Kalya. He had no intention of allowing his family to truly know what was occurring, for if they did, Sirius was sure they would take Harry and throw him out halfway across Europe. They might have accepted him back into the family but there was no way he was going to delude himself into believing that they'd accept Harry as well - he was optimistic not idiotic.

As Sirius slipped past the entrance, he saw the gigantic, blazing fireplace of the sitting parlor being tended to by two house elves. His Grandfather Pollux was reclining upon a grand, dark brown leather singular sofa whilst Grandmother Irma, Grandfather Arcturus, Grandmother Melania, and Aunt Cassiopeia all sat about as well, speaking in pitched tones about their respective conversations.

The warmth of fire and the champagne tone of the chandelier light caused Sirius to have a slight welling up of doubt, but all that was squashed once Grandfather Arcturus caught his eye.

"Sirius, what on Merlin's name are you doing skulking about the entry way like that? Come closer here, boy!" He commanded, his sharp gray eyes piercing and booking room for no argument. "You're part of the family again, Sirius and Heir to the House of Black - I will not have my grandson-"

"Our grandson," Pollux cut in, slightly aggravated.

"Yes, yes," Arcturus responded, waving a dismissive hand, "I refuse for our grandson to become a wallflower in our presence!"

Sirius chuckled at his stern grandfather's words and sank down into one of the grandiose leather recliners. He gave a regal nod of respect towards his grandmothers whilst giving his aunt a cheeky wink (she scowled in return) before sobering up.

"Grandfather Arcturus, Pollux, Grandmothers Irma and Melania," he nodded towards his grandparents dutifully and afterwards, gave a nod to his aunt, "Cassie, dear," he smiled before taking in a deep breath and clenching his hands into fists. "I'm afraid I haven't been completely honest with you this evening," he confessed as he saw their faces immediately school themselves from warm - if not slightly stoic - welcoming expressions into one of a blank countenances. "I…I am married," he said quickly, "or, I was at any rate."

"You…you did what?" His Aunt Cassiopeia asked, completely flabbergasted at his confession. "Not to a mudblood, surely?" She added, the worry in her voice had been repressed by her trained emotionless tone of voice, but Sirius could easily see past her facade.

Giving a sharp shake of his head, Sirius's expression morphed into a sneer of one truly disgusted with the prospect of muggleborn wizards and witches - and it was true, since the Potter's death, Sirius beliefs had done a complete 180. "Of course not, Aunt Cassie, what do you take me for? A muggle lover?" He asked appalled while he saw the relief in all their eyes.

His Grandfather Pollux was the one who inquired.

Sirius gave a small smile. "I met her in a dalliance while I was in France, Grandfather," the former Gryffindor said, his voice mimicking that of perfect nostalgia. "She was devastatingly beautiful and I knew, I just knew, I had to have her," his grandparents chuckled at their only (living) grandson's playboy ways whilst his aunt merely rolled her eyes. "I didn't even know who she was but she was captivating - charming and witty, entertaining and alluring…I fell in love with her and we married after three years," he explained.

The reason was undoubtedly solid - upon graduation from Hogwarts, Sirius and James along with Peter and Remus, had joined the Order of the Phoenix and had often been sent out on missions by Dumbledore. To cover his tracks, Sirius would just, oddly enough, drop off the face of the earth for a few months and then resurface as if nothing had ever happened. Upon Sirius's twenty first birthday, Dumbledore had sent him and Remus on a special undercover mission which had put him away for three solid years; no one knew where he was and though he knew his family would never have thought to check up on him, it helped to have a solid alibi.

Taking another breath, Sirius had never been so thankful for his mother's lessons in pureblood familial knowledge, he continued on. "I had to keep everything under wraps as I was still a disgraced Black and she, a noble pureblood heiress who was also a runaway of sorts," he took a bit of a pause as he gauged each of his family's reactions before speaking, "…she was Alexandria Malfoy."

At those words, the eyes on the heads of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black widened to almost comical proportions; Cassiopeia nearly dropped her tea cup while Sirius's Grandmother Melania looked as if she'd just swallowed a chocolate frog whole. The surprise quickly vanished, however, when they saw that Sirius was indeed, for once in his life, serious.

"Is this true, Sirius?" Pollux asked him, a solemn and cutting edge in his tone that caused the gray eyed Black heir to answer back with nothing but a short, sharp nod and a single syllable.

"Yes."

A pause. And then...

"I always knew you were a Black, Sirius!" Pollux lauded, a beaming smile upon his face while everyone else in the room nodded in proud agreement. "Blood above all else. Walburga was foolish to believe that you were anything but a true pureblood," he continued on, "Alexandria Malfoy - a fine match, Sirius. Very fine."

"She was, Grandfather, she was." Sirius responded, a sad resignation in his voice that caused Arcturus to frown.

"Was, Sirius? Where is she now?"

Forcing his gaze unto the ground, Sirius knew there was a reason why he'd been able to call himself a marauder as he set those finely honed acting skills to use. "As many of you know," he said, his voice just barely above a broken whisper, "Alexandria wanted freedom and took a leave from England for several years," - but of course everyone knew! She'd practically stunned the Malfoy family patriarch into cardiac arrest when she'd asked that of him - "she moved to Germany, America, and then France which is where I met her…she died giving birth to our son."

Cassiopeia didn't miss a beat. "Is your son alive, Sirius?"

The handsome marauder gave a nod, "he is, Aunt Cassie, thank Merlin he is," the real reverence in his voice for Harry caused everyone in the Black family to let out a breath of suppressed air and the delightful relief that quickly peppered the atmosphere was undeniable. For so long they had worried about who would overtake the family title - after all, Regulus was dead and Rodolphus was locked away in Azkaban with Bellatrix. Lucretia and Ignatius had failed to produce an heir and there was no way a Black was going to give up all assets and entitlements to a Malfoy - at least, not without a fight. The very idea that Sirius was here and ready to take on the title of Head of Black had been a godsend at the very least. The knowledge that he now had a son to carry on the title was the solidified confirmation needed to confirm that Sirius had always been on their side.

"His name?" Pollux inquired after a pause, raising a brow at his grandson's unusually quiet demeanor - but then again, he supposed, that was quite understandable considering his life had just turned upside down and inside out.

Sirius blinked at his grandfather's inquiry and quickly gave a laid back smile. "Cepheus. Cepheus Sirius Black, Grandfather," he let out an inward breath when everyone in the room nodded their heads in silent approval. "I will let you see him next week, after I've gotten everything set up at Hawthorne."

"But of course, Sirius," Arcturus allowed, deciding to spare his grandson of another hour of inquiry - that could wait until next week when the entire family had properly gathered together. "I shall inform Abraxas of what has occurred. No doubt he will want to see his grandchild as well, excuse me," with a sweeping gesture, Arcturus easily apparated from the room while Pollux gave his grandson another smile.

"In due time, Sirius," he announced - causing the words to carry far more weight than it should - while Melania gave Sirius a warm kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you, Grandfather, Grandmother," he nodded to both of them before Cassiopeia quickly apparated away as well - no doubt to inform the ministry of what has occurred.

Walking out of the drawing room, Sirius felt lighter than he had in years - crafting that story was his true masterpiece but the final touch? Preparing the blood binding potion that would cause Harry not only to become a Black by name, but by blood and physiology as well.

Sirius smiled.

His promise to James would be kept after all.

* * *

When the Black and Malfoy families apparated to 114 Hawthorne-Coleridge Key on November 7th, what they saw astounded them. There, lying in a magnificently ornate and magically suspended cradle of dark blue silk and velvet, was a one year old boy who looked so much like the very spitting image of Sirius that it was frightening.

Even as a babe he possessed the aristocratic Black features that characterized the pureblood family; his baby fat did little to hide the sharp angled cheekbones and Roman nose that were slowly appearing. His pointed chin and defined bone structure would make him identifiable in later years as both handsome and roguish - even his hair screamed Sirius, displaying itself as a tamable black which gleamed under the chandelier light.

But it was his eyes that caught the attention of everyone.

When Sirius - along with the help of Remus - had made the potion, they had been sure to include equal amounts of Alexandria's and Sirius's blood. Once Harry had drank it all through a gilded feeding bottle, the effects had taken form. Sirius had seen to it that while Harry looked like him in every shape, way, and form, he possessed his (supposed) mother's eyes.

A deep, melding blue that bordered upon violet - such an intense shade upon the boy that Sirius deemed it would be more than enough proof to everyone Cepheus was indeed Alexandria Malfoy's son.

When Abraxas Malfoy - along with his son Lucius, daughter-in-law Narcissa, and grandson Draco - had seen the dark haired, violet eyed boy, they'd sensed power radiating off of him like no other. But it was only when the babe had fixed that piercing, viola hued gaze on them that they'd been unable to look away. Little Draco had taken a liking to his year old cousin as well for as soon as they two had seen each other, Draco had begun squirming in Narcissa's grasp until she had placed him down in the ornate suspended crib with his new cousin.

Almost immediately both boys fixed stares of equal intensity at each other; everyone watched in awe as both heirs raised a chubby hand and patted each others cheek - as if sizing up their opponent. A few gurgles and hostile glares were exchanged before Cepheus allowed a wide, easy going smile to appear on his face, looking so much like Sirius that it would've taken a blind man under the Imperius Curse not to see it. Draco, in turn, gave him a charming, Malfoy grin and the two immediately warmed up - lying on their backs, talking in whatever childish communication there was that existed between the two, all the while looking and pointing at the spelled, starry night ceiling of Cepheus's nursery.

"They're inseparable," Grandmother Irma mused at her two grandson's attachments towards each other.

Sirius gave proud smile, "they're each half-Malfoy, half-Black. They're bound to be inseparable." Giving a cheeky grin at Lucius, he walked over to his disgruntled brother-in-law. "Cheer up, brother Lucius - at least Draco's still in the running for heir!"

Lucius Malfoy fixed an icy cold gaze upon the newly instated Heir of Black - it was a well known fact that Lucius could not become the next contender for the Black family name. Though he was to married Narcissa, he had not a drop of Black blood running through his veins.

Giving a slight snarl, the blonde haired man regarded the handsome Gryffindor beater with distaste. "Thank you for that _insightful_ remark, Black," he responded harshly but was quickly quieted when he saw his father glide by, a proud smile upon Abraxas's face.

"It is good to know that my daughter's last moments were spent in love, Sirius," he said, causing the gray eyed male to feel a small amount of guilt well up inside at having invented Alexandria's demise but he squashed it aside - saying she died from childbirth was a lot better than saying she contracted dragon pox and her body had decayed to nothingness. "I am sure she would be delighted to see that young Cepheus has a father who loves him as much as you do," Abraxas added, bringing Sirius from his revere, "leaving Dumbledore was a wise decision - both for yourself and your son."

Turning to face his beloved godson turned real son - in blood, biology, and name - Sirius couldn't help but feel an overwhelming wave of fatherly pride wash over him. Giving a wide, easy going smile - the same one his son had inherited - the dark haired Black nodded, "I'll raise him the same manner any Black has been raised…with a few creative liberties here and there, of course."

He heard Abraxas Malfoy chuckle with an odd fondness before the silver haired Malfoy turned to face his latest grandson again. Abraxas could literally feel the dark power rolling off the young child and he had no doubt that there would be potential aplenty - Sirius Black having an heir with his daughter was just about the most wondrous thing he could conjure up in his mind.

Clasping his latest son-in-law on the back, Abraxas disappeared into the family gathering that was occurring on the side as Sirius watched on, observing Draco and Cepheus drift off into sleep.

_You will be loved…Cepheus, _Sirius vowed, _that I promise._

* * *

**A/N: My little one-shot for Cepheus Sirius Black (formerly Harry James Potter) because who doesn't ponder about whether or not Sirius would adopt little Harry? I'd like to think he would! **

**And since I'm such a Tom Felton fangirl of sorts, I decided to give Draco a cousinly bond with Cepheus just because I thought it was cute and well, who doesn't love a baby Draco and baby Harry/Cepheus? **

**Review, please! **


	2. Announcement!

Not an update but an announcement!

Thank you to whoever nominated me for the Fall-Winter 2013 Round of The HP Fanfic Fan Poll Awards! So excited (my first nomination since I jumped aboard this crazy fanfiction wagon!)

Now this is me shamelessly asking anyone who reviewed/favored/followed or even just looked at my story to please vote for me at** hpfanficfanpoll . livejournal . com**! Voting period opens November 1, 2013 and closes December 31, 2013! Make my New Year's by voting for me?

Thank you all so much!

x,

heartsn'minds


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